Transactions that Don Cornwell has been part of include the sale of the Buffalo Bills, the sale of IMG to WME, a recapitalization of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the formation of Major League Baseball Advanced Media. He’s served as a strategic adviser to the NFL and NBA. At AVANCE Global 2026 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Hispanic Executive asked him what he does better than anyone in his lane. Despite all of the previous accomplishments, he elected to take the high road.
“It’s hard for me to say that I’m doing anything better than anyone else; there are lots of great people in my industry,” Cornwell says. “All I can say is what I do and how I conduct business.”
Cornwell cites his need to be there, to be where the action is, where the relationships are made, and where the deals are happening, as one of his defining characteristics. That’s why he was at AVANCE Global. He says that for a long time, he thought most people were like him, but since COVID, his style has become something rarer. Everyone seems to want to conduct business on Zoom.
“Flying out to conferences, being in the room with people, and shaking hands leads to good things because it helps you develop relationships,” Cornwell says. “Especially in the world of AI, I think those who have that capability are going to be at a real premium.”
Cornwell, co-founder and CEO of Dynasty Equity, was invited to AVANCE Global to speak, but he says walking the halls and bumping into friends and acquaintances is just as important, if not more so. The CEO was grabbing a cup of coffee when he struck up a conversation with someone doing the same. After a brief back-and-forth, the two realized there might be business to be conducted.
“That is about being in the room,” Cornwell says. “That doesn’t happen on Zoom. I just love being around so many people who are trying to do something. For me, as a person of color, to see this kind of gathering, 7,000 people, most of whom do things that have nothing to do with sports—I just love it.”
When it does come to sports, though, Cornwell says that he sees younger professionals wanting to jump into the world directly. That wouldn’t be his first piece of advice. Sports teams and leagues are just large businesses, and they want the kind of people who have business, financial, or other skills first.
“I was trained classically as a finance person; I wasn’t trained on sports deals,” Cornwell says. “I was doing big chemical deals, industrial deals, retail deals, and casino deals. I found my way to sports when I realized I had core skills in dealmaking.”
Make yourself undeniable in your field, and you’ll figure out where you belong. And hope that at the next conference you’re at, you and Don Cornwell both want coffee at the same time.
